A SADDENED sofa shopper says a spring burst in her brand new couch after just a fortnight — and she was told it was because she'd SAT on it.

Port woman Rita Kelly — who paid £500 for the three-seater settee at The Range — was left in tears when the company put the failure down to 'wear and tear' and refused to replace it.

Rita, 64, told the Tele she was promised delivery directly into her living room but the sofa was 'dumped' outside her front door in pouring rain.

After she phoned The Range about the burst spring she was told to take a photo and email it to the company's head office — even though the damage was hidden beneath the fabric, she said.

Rita said: "I told them that the camera on my phone doesn't have an X-ray lens."

She bought the sofa and paid an extra £20 for delivery at The Range store in Paisley last September but she's been battling with the company ever since.

Rita, of the Port's Lewis Road, said: "The Range sent out an independent upholstery expert.

"He looked at the sofa and said, 'I can see what the problem is — you've sat on it'.

"I said to him, 'That's why I got the sofa — to sit on it!'

"The man said to me, 'Who buys a sofa these days with springs in it?'"

Rita added: "The Range said they got a report back from the expert and that the problem was down to 'wear and tear'.

"I live alone, no-one comes here, so how can it be wear and tear after just a fortnight?"

She said: "I'd been looking for a sofa for a wee while but other places had ten-week delivery times.

"A friend took me to Paisley and The Range offered me next-week delivery right into my living room and I thought that was excellent.

"Then the delivery people came with the sofa and said they wouldn't be bringing it into the house because of Covid.

"They just dumped it outside when it was raining, but at least it was covered in plastic.

"I had to get help to get it in my house."

Rita says she is getting nowhere with the sofa saga.

She told the Tele: "This whole thing has been going on for months and months and they just don't care.

"They've got my money and that's that."

The Tele put Rita's entire case — complete with her order number and debit card receipt details — to The Range, who did not deny any of it.

The company's press office told us that they were 'investigating this on our end'.

But The Range has since ignored repeated follow-up requests for a comment on Rita's case.